Hey everyone, welcome to World Heritage Journey.
Today we're at Preah Vihear, in Cambodia.
So this is a Khmer empire-era Hindu temple in the far north of Cambodia, right on the
border with Thailand.
It's from the 11th and 12th century, about the same era as Angkor Wat, and it was the
second most important spiritual home for the Khmer Empire.
Let's have a look around.
Preah Vihear temple is located on a mountain ridge in the remote north of Cambodia, and
is dedicated to the Hindu god Shiva.
Unusually for Angkor-style temples, it's arranged along a north-south axis, approximately 800
metres from end to end.
The main complex here consists of five large pavilions known as Gopura, all of which are
connected by a causeway that slowly rises along the ridge of the hill.
It creates a really striking effect - as you climb, you can only see the next Gopura looming
above you.
And it really makes you feel like you're on a long pilgrimage, even though you've been
driven most of the way uphill in a Jeep!
The buildings themselves are in fairly good condition, though not quite as well preserved
as other Hindu temples we've seen elsewhere.
Looking closely, there's quite a few intricate carvings of Hindu deities, decorative motifs,
and of course statues of naga and lions dotted around the place.
There's the fantastic Lion Head Reservoir, where a large water reservoir is watched over
by a lion statue, and there's also an excellent shrine building with a huge tree sticking
out of the roof.
It's obviously not an original feature, but it certainly adds to the exciting feel of
the place.
The location is absolutely spectacular as well, sitting right on the edge of a mountain
with an almost-sheer 500 metre drop to the plains below.
I should mention as well that Preah Vihear was quite a controversial addition to the
World Heritage list in 2008.
As it's so close to the Thai-Cambodian border (literally only a hundred or so metres away),
ownership of the temple has been a hotly-debated issue in both countries, particularly since
1962 when a court decision ruled the temple belonged to Cambodia.
Violence has sporadically broken out, most recently in 2011 when a couple of soldiers
were killed in firefights across the border.
But thankfully things seemed to have cooled down a bit when we visited.